Watch: Loose dog causes mass pile-up at Vuelta a Guatemala (video)

Dogs and bike races don’t have a happy history, but one particular fan at the Vuelta a Guatemala appears not to have read our fine article on the matter, after his stray pooch caused a mass pile-up at the front of the peloton.

The incident took place on the final day of the race as the peloton tackled a 105km circuit around the city of Guatemala, when the dog wandered out into the path of the race.

Although the front few of riders managed to avoid crashing into the dog, one rider eventually came down, setting off a chain reaction behind him, with the road becoming blocked as spectators rushed forward to help.

According to local news agency Soy 502, although a number of riders suffered injuries in the accident, none were forced to abandon the race, with the final stage won by Jeison Elias Vega of Costa Rica, with his compatriot Roman Villalobos taking the overall title for the second consecutive year.

Unfortunately we’re not sure whether this event his high profile enough to make it into our list of the top 14 cycling fan fails, which already has canine representation after Philippe Gilbert decided to pick a fight with a dog that was almost as big as him at the 2012 Tour de France.